1. Technical Field
Example embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method for driving a light source, a driving apparatus for driving the light source and a liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus having the driving apparatus. More particularly, example embodiments of the present invention relate to a method for driving a light source for preventing a turn-on defect of the light source, a driving apparatus for driving the light source, and an LCD apparatus having the driving apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Light generated from a light source is transformed into planar light having uniform brightness, and the planar light is provided to a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel.
Examples of the light source include a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL), a light-emitting diode (LED), etc.
A driving voltage is provided to the light source so that the light source generates the light. An element for providing the driving voltage is a driver (or inverter) in a backlight unit. The driver applies a high voltage to the light source so that the light source generates light.
For example, the backlight unit includes the light source generating the light and the driver that converts a direct current (DC) voltage of an input voltage to an alternating current (AC) voltage and boosts the voltage to provide the light source with the voltage. The driver provides a high voltage for turning on the light source in an initial stage, and controls a current flowing through the light source to maintain uniform brightness of the light source.
However, an open lamp may be detected by the high voltage for turning on the light source in the initial stage. Therefore, a protection circuit may unnecessarily operate when a turn-on defect has not occurred.